Books: Candide Keaton

BALLOONS ARE AVAILABLE by Jordan Critfenden. 180 pages. Afheneum.
$4.50.

The only cumbrous thing about this novel is the title, borrowed from
some lines by W. H. Auden. Otherwise, Balloons Are Available is lighter
than air and easily dirigible toward its comic purpose. The hero, who
progresses from repairman to executive vice president, is named Howard
Ormsby. Part Candide, part Buster Keaton, he is loosed in a land where
every pratfall is followed by a commercial. Author Crittenden's best
effects are gained through a sort of contrapuntal dialogue. One of
Howard's loves tells him the story of her life, including the...